We see where he’s coming from.
“President Rodrigo Roa Duterte has ordered all departments, bureaus, Cabinet members, and heads of government agencies to refrain from addressing him as ‘His Excellency’ and Cabinet secretaries as ‘Honorable’ in all official communications,” reports InterAksyon.com.
The directive was stated in a Jul 15 memo from the Office of Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea.
The memo specified:
1. That the President shall be addressed in all official communications, events or materials as “President Rodrigo Roa Duterte” only, and without the term “His Excellency,” and
2. All members of the Cabinet shall be addressed in all official communications submitted to the Office of the President as “Secretary” only, and without the term “Honorable.”
The directive also covers “government-owned and -controlled corporations, government financial institutions and other instrumentalities of the government.”
The report noted: “The Palace, however, said all government agencies and offices, in their discretion, may still use the term ‘Honorable’ to address their respective heads of offices in their internal communications and documents.”
